3 April 2020

I have to say I am right royally fed up with hearing nothing but Coronavirus-Coronavirus-Coronavirus in every conversation and on every news bulletin. Therefore I wondered what I could write about that would take my mind off it all, and possibly yours.

Well I suppose the answer is “dogs”. Depending on your individual circumstance, this ‘lockdown’ may affect your life in different ways, some people will be a lot worse off than others. For us, it isn’t terrible, I am able to work from home and we both work part-time. But what it has meant is that we have more time on our hands because we aren’t ‘nipping out to the shop’ or driving the dogs to a walk further away, and life becomes simpler in a way.

I’m not one for the whole ‘mindfulness’ movement, but I think unconsciously I have been practising it a bit more. I am noticing my surroundings a bit more, paying a bit more attention to things than I otherwise would. I had to visit my doctors surgery this morning and I found myself sitting in the car in the car park (waiting until I was called, as I was instructed to do) and heard the bird-song as the loudest thing, where normally it would be cars on the busy road that goes past the surgery. (visit to doctors surgery routine, nothing worrying!)

Gardening, I’m not a huge fan, but I do get some enjoyment from weeding and tidying….and when you are doing that, you’re not thinking about anything else. I think the brain needs a break from all this madness, so concentrating on something and therefore blocking everything else out, is a useful coping technique.

Life can assume an air of calmness about it, or least it can if you tune out the general stress that this time has brought us. As I said, focusing on the simpler life, which leads me onto dogs.

We have Finlay of course who is not that far off 3 years old now, and Cooper who is nearly 7 months old. Even though it wasn’t that long ago that Finlay was a puppy, Cooper has been a wake-up call of hard work and frustration but of course love and cuteness. He seems to love taunting his brother SO very much, it is his hobby. They sleep in adjacent rooms, separated but they can see one another, they seem to like it that way so far. But they are mad keen on seeing one another in the morning. The furious wagging until they can get to one another and then an explosion of energy that is unsettling for a 50-something year old man who really isn’t THAT good first thing in the morning. They get let out into the garden as quickly as possible so they can rampage around, whilst I get some coffee down me!

The best way I’ve found is to let them burn off their energy before letting them back into the house, otherwise they just bounce off every wall and the kitchen cupboards until they’ve had their breakfast. Cooper is very-very rough with Finlay, who just seems to put up with it. We assume he will at some point reach his limit and inform Cooper that this is the case. But he hasn’t reached his limit yet. Being just over 6 months old, Cooper is at his most hooligan age probably…..now and for the next couple of years haha! He still cannot be trusted to be left alone, given the chance he chews cables, pulls towels off the rails and drags them across the floor, chews rugs….pretty much anything he ISN’T supposed to do, he does. Which means so far in his life, we’re either with him, or he is imprisoned in his puppy pen….and he is now clearly indicating that being imprisoned is not the done thing. Crash and bang the puppy pen goes as he pulls it from its supposed square shape into a very thin diamond shape, taking the surrounding furniture with it.

You know when you look him square in the eye sometimes (or any puppy probably), and what looks back at you is pure puppy devilment…..Tibetan Spaniel owners, you’ve seen it, haven’t you!!

So, having this extra time to observe a puppy what do you see. Just how individual every dog is, not just the Tibetan Spaniel….but any dog I imagine. Cooper does some very cat-like movements with his front paws, Finlay of course wags a lot. Cooper has the best goading technique I’ve ever seen in getting Finlay to engage. The interplay between the two of them is fascinating, we eventually give way and pull Cooper off Finlay to give him a break, and then Finlay will purposefully get straight back in and begin playing again – even though we thought he’d had enough he clearly hasn’t. We try not to interfere where we can and just leave them too it. We are not keen on the “bitey faces” game, they absolutely love doing it, but we do worry about their eyes. They seem to know what they are doing. Then just when you think they are two independent boys marking out their territory, they’ll have the most tremendous love-in and end up sleeping together in the corner of the room.

Finlay has always been fairly independent, he will come and lay next to you on the couch but not for long – “human, I am gracing you my presence, you may stroke me”. So of course you take him up on his kind offer, but woe betide you if you overstep the mark…..stroke him by all means, but try and cuddle him and he’s off with a disdainful loud “sigh” and possibly a dirty look over his shoulder as he stalks off out into the hallway for a bit of peace and quiet. Again, Tibetan Spaniel owners, you’ve had the “sigh” too haven’t you?!

One thing to note, is that now we have two Tibetan Spaniels, when we go out for a walk we get less comments about what mix of breeds is he….because to the untrained eye they look very similar, so people figure they are perhaps the same breed. They certainly make a great team, because any human walking down the road towards them will be halted by Finlay’s wagging, then notice the cute puppy, and another set of fans are drawn in (well, they were until the last couple of weeks since social distancing came in, which the dogs most certainly do not approve of).

Walks are also a different thing. Finlay has always loved going out for walks and now he is a mature dog, he could walk for miles and would do given half the chance. I’ve no doubt he could walk further than I could before I needed a sit down. Cooper of course is only young so has enforced shorter walks, in fact much shorter than people seem to realise, even other dog owners. A local dog owner was very surprised to see me carrying Cooper whilst out with Deb and Finlay. “Is he alright” he asked, yes I said….but he only gets to walk for short distances, for the rest he is carried. Then ensued a long conversation about protecting young puppy bones and joints, it was news to the dog owner I was chatting to, sigh. We’re happy to educate, but surprised it is necessary.

Anyway, Cooper’s walk length is gradually increasing, but he is a nightmare at times whilst out walking. He loves to ambush Finlay half way across a road and chase him around….not ideal! He is also a bit skittish when he is out on his own walking with one of us, he prefers to be with Finlay. He constantly looks back behind him to see if his brother is coming. Finlay does nothing of the sort, it is much more like “I’m off and I don’t care if HE comes or not”.

Essentially dog watching could become almost a full-time hobby. They are very different characters but they do seem to get on well with one another. Certainly in these uncertain times, dogs provide a comfort and they have their demands which focus the mind on the present. The dogs will always need feeding, walking and playing with. They have an innocence through all this that you could get quite jealous of, they know nothing of what is going on in the world. If they sense you are a bit uneasy, then the come and give you a smile and a wag. Who could ask for more?

Here is a recent picture of Finlay, basking in the sunshine on his favourite bench:

Humans, you may adore me now

On the same day, here is Cooper. He loves the garden, and he loves trying to consume the garden:

Nom, nom, nom, lovely stick

Here we see Cooper's best goading technique. Even when Finlay gives him what seems to be a clear 'bugger off' sign, they still go back for more.

8 March 2020

Fitting that I should write this update having just watched the Crufts Best In Show result.

I was reminded recently that I still have a blog that is just for Finlay rather than the Facebook blog that is about both Finlay and Cooper. I need to update this blog as it seems I haven't since last August. A lot has happened in Finlay's life in the last 7 months.

Finlay has been slow to mature. He is such a bubbly character and has been since day one, but this has also meant that he hasn't shown his best, until the last few months. As well as physically maturing he has started to calm down enough that he can still be that goofy Finlay we know and love, but also bring out some of the breed characteristics of our beloved Tibetan Spaniel. Well, except maybe the 'aloof' part.....

Finlay gained a Reserve Dog Challenge Certificate in 2018 and it was a complete surprise and an absolute honour. But since then  although he has had very good success in Open shows, Championship show honours have been thin on the ground. Then came last week at the South West Tibetan Spaniel Club Champ show where he won his Mid-Limit class, again totally unexpected......... and then came Crufts 2020.

Finlay took part at Crufts 2019 and gained a 4th place in his class, which was amazing. We had never considered ever showing a dog at Crufts before, so this was a dream come true. But then in 2020 Finlay came along and won his Limit Dog class. A red rosette at Crufts, astounding. But then he went and won the Reserve Dog Challenge Certificate (like at Richmond), but this time at Crufts. CRUFTS!! The day was a blur and even driving back home in the car it really hadn't sunk in. Next day I watched back lots of the video I had recorded on the day and it seemed a bit like a dream, but it was real alright.

Then Deb and Finlay took part in the Breeders Competition and the team came 4th out of 36 teams. After a full year of qualification in 2019 and then to put a team up against the cream of the best dog breeders at Crufts and to come 4th for the 2nd year in a row is such an achievement for Aileen McDonald. Such an honour for such a novice pairing to be 'allowed' to take part.

At home Finlay (and Cooper) are pet dogs. When you get up in the morning there they are. They happily go out for walks in all weathers, they are there on the sofa, playing with toys and spreading them all over the house. They are both very naughty at times. They are forever deep within our hearts. Only for a few hours a month are they show Tibetan Spaniels. Those same dogs that look so composed around a show ring (whether Crufts or not) are equally at home covered in mud or rolling in fox poo. I'm not sure this is very well understood by non-dog showing people. Yes these are carefully bred pedigree dogs, but these 'posh' dogs are really nothing of the sort, just ordinary happy dogs who have been so well trained and socialised that they are happy attending dog shows without being stressed by the whole experience. They take it in their stride, more so than the humans I suspect.

I don't know where Finlay's show career will go from here (or Cooper's), but if this last week turned out to be the pinnacle (and I do hope it's not) then it would have been pretty damn good. Deb and I are still bursting with pride at being able to get as far as we have with Finlay, many of you have given us support along the way, we couldn't have done it without you.

I take literally hundred of photos at dog shows, but I've rarely caught such a good one of Finlay.

Finlay in his Limit class at Crufts

Deb, Finlay and Aileen our breeder. When we picked up that fluffy pup in August 2017, we couldn't possibly have known what a star he would turn out to be.

Proud breeder moment

....and I certainly never envisaged ever taking a photo like this, winning anything at Crufts let alone a RDCC.

Finlay and Deb with Linda Morton our judge

2 August 2019

Finlay is now over 2 years old and coming along nicely.

He is without doubt the most lovely natured dog, he loves to meet people and other dogs. So many times out on walks Finlay works his magic, he will fix upon a stranger walking towards him with his cheeky smile, then as the person approaches he will stop and wag and get a goofy grin on his face. At this point only the most hard-hearted human can walk past without comment. Once they have stopped then they cannot resist saying hello to Finlay and another friend is made. Time after time.

At dog shows it is much the same, Finlay still loves going to the shows and now gets very excited as we enter the car park. He has a widening group of friends he meets now and every judge is a potential new best friend. The judge will certainly get a wag, but if they get close enough they will most certainly also get a kiss. Not all judges seem so keen on the kiss, but secretly I think they are fine with it.

In terms of meeting other dogs, Finlay does exhibit some nervousness on occasion. He was attacked when he was quite young, bitten underneath by a dog he had rolled over to trying to give the correct doggy body language but this dog bit him on the underside. This seems to have had a lasting effect, so sometimes he can't quite allow himself to say hello without a nervous growl. We sometimes meet a Tibetan Mastiff who Finlay has always been fine with, but the owner recently also got a big black Newfoundland called Sherlock. Finlay was initially a bit freaked out by Sherlock, but we met him on the beach and they were both off the lead, and after a bit of nervous running away (even Finlay isn't that daft to growl at a dog 10 times his size!) they soon ended up chasing each other madly around the beach, showing that given time his confidence builds. It is up to us to try and help him build that confidence, he is getting better.

I can take absolutely no credit for this next part of the story. Finlay achieved his Bronze Good Citizen Dog award, which we are so pleased about. This success was entirely down to Deb and Finlay and in the first couple of weeks at the training club, it seemed an impossible task. Now, my wife is not one to shy away from a challenge and she doesn't like to be beaten by something. A little know fact about Deb is that when she was very young she used to do obedience with her dog at the time, a Pomeranian called Shandy. I'm not sure which you would view as more challenging, obedience training a Pom or a Tibbie!! Deb persevered with Finlay and week by week he got better, one of his downfalls was his down stay, how can you get a hyper-alert waggy dog who so desperately wants to play with all the other dogs to stay still.....well they managed it in the end. This week, he even managed a 2 minute down-stay, which is at Silver award level. Deb hasn't decided whether to go for Silver yet.....It goes without saying that having a more obedient dog is a good thing to have, both when out and about and when in the show ring. That said, Finlay is a Tibetan Spaniel and that doesn't come without a bit of selected deafness from time to time. His recall is pretty reliable now, but that doesn't mean we can let him off-lead just anywhere!!

Finlay has also spent his first week in kennels whilst we went away on holiday. We weren't entirely sure how he would cope, we tried him for 2 trial stays and he was fine and in the event his weeks stay was also fine. The people that run the kennel loved looking after him and he got to socialise with the other small dogs (they separate out small and large dogs before they let them out into the secure paddock) and when he came out of the kennels, he was happy to see us but was quite happy to wander off with the kennel staff to sniff the surrounding area before coming to us to go home. That was nice to see, he didn't come running out of the kennel desperate to leave. He is not a clingy dog, so this was not unexpected and makes him an easy dog to live with....

On the show scene, Finlay finally got his very first Best Of Breed at the Southampton Open dog show. It was a lovely show right by Southampton water and it is only a 20 minute drive up the road, so couldn't not go there really. It clashed with the SEEATSS Champ show which was unfortunate, but it was a lovely day.

Here is Finlay with his Bronze Good Citizen Dog certificate, he couldn't quite bring himself to look at it, he seemed to have taken offence with it in fact. But he earned it, bless him.

We have had a lot of hot weather lately and whilst this isn't the best looking area of our house, the patio is always in the shade because our garden is nearly north-facing. So Finlay likes to 'sploot' out here on the cold stone. Doesn't look that comfortable, but he loves it.

Here is Finlay at the Southampton Open show, where he won Best of Breed, his very first.

19 May 2019

Finlay is now 23 months old, not far off his 2nd birthday, amazing!

Today's blog is some musings about both Finlay and dog showing. Not that long ago, I would have been largely ignorant of the massive number of dog shows that happen in the UK every weekend of the year. Some of them small dog shows and some of them very big dog shows. This weekend alone that I'm aware of, there were the following shows:
- Devon County show
- Redditch and District show
- Coventry and District show
- Christchurch and New Forest show
- Scottish Kennel Club Championship show

All of them had representation from Tibetan Spaniel exhibitors and even TS owners judging. But what is in it for the exhibitors, well.....largely just the fun of going and showing your dog off to the world and socialising with like-minded people. Since we've been showing Finlay we've probably won £30-£50 in prize money, there is never that much money on offer, so people aren't getting rich on it.

Today in Dorset at the Christchurch and New Forest Open show, it was a 'mixed weather' day. We arrived in the sunshine, it slowly clouded over and got very muggy and the weather forecast was exactly right with planned heavy rain. The heavens opened and it tipped down for a couple of hours. The very British weather brought out the very British spirit of smiling through all of this and carrying on, largely due to a friend of ours bringing along a massive gazebo for us all to shelter under.....well the Tibetan Spaniel people that is, not the whole show, it wasn't THAT big!! Yes it was a bit miserable for a while and such a contrast to earlier in the day, but "the show must go on". Organising a dog show through those conditions can't be massive fun, so a big well done to those that made it happen.

Finlay did pretty well today. For an open show, it was very stiff competition in his class and he came a creditable 2nd out of 5 entries and went on to win 'Best Opposite Sex'. Then got a 1st in AV Utility Open.....although only 1 in the class, due to some people not waiting around in the rain. But unplaced in an Open Stakes class....the only chance to win some money on the day.

Next week one of the 'big' dog shows, the Bath Championship dog show. An outdoor show like today, let's hope the weather holds out.

In other news this week, Finlay has had the best fun in his garden whilst we have our large conifer hedge ripped out to be replaced with a nice new fence. His new best buddy was Danny the tree surgeon, every day he went out for a big fuss before Danny got going. The love was mutual, Danny picked Finlay up for a big cuddle....and Danny was a very big man well over 6 foot tall, but Finlay still went in for the snog (and the wag of course). For the time being he can see into our neighbours garden, which is absolute heaven for him, because he can wag at our neighbour and therefore get even more attention. He's going to be gutted next week when the fence goes up, although no doubt he will befriend the fencing contractors!

This weeks spoils, the rosettes from his classes. Haven't had many 'Best Opposite Sex' rosettes, I think this is only his second. I'm pretty sure Finlay would agree he is the best looking opposite sex too :-)

Here is Finlay in the garden inspecting a big heap of felled conifer hedging, which has produced his largest stash of sticks ever! He'll be finding and fetching them for weeks to come....

Ohhh, sticks! Me want.....

Charity work....Deb occasionally does some collecting for our local RSPCA branch, so a couple of weekends ago, we stood outside a local pet shop and took Finlay along to help our cause. It is the first time he has done such a task, he certainly attracted the punters in. It was both a good ploy on our part, plus a good Tibetan Spaniel promotion event. The RSPCA have reported back on takings for our time there, it is safe to say the 'Finlay factor' paid dividends and proportionally we collected well above the average across the weekend. What a clever boy.

14 April 2019

Finlay is now 22 months old!

Just a few reflections this week on dog showing.....We said that this year we would not do as many shows as we did last year when we were trying to get Finlay's Junior Warrant, and it doesn't look like we have been entirely successful on that front. But the main thing is we are all still enjoying the experience. Since the last blog post about Cruft's we've done a couple of open shows and most recently the Crystal Palace Open show at South of England showground at Ardingly.

We like to enter Finlay into both the breed classes and some other classes, either AV/AVNSC or a Stakes class or two. If you are travelling 1 to 2 hours (or more) to get to a show, it seems a shame to go all that way just for one class. Plus Finlay enjoys the doing it and it gives Deb & Finlay experience with more classes and lots of different judges. We also feel it is nice to spread the Tibetan Spaniel love around because possibly some of these judges rarely get to see a Tibbie.

Now, I haven't got the slightest idea how to judge a dog, although everyone is a ringside judge from time to time! But there is the breed standard part of judging and then there is the personal preference part of judging. Even if you have a ring full of dogs with 10 out of 10 for breed standard/type, there will be a dog in the ring that "speaks" to the judge in some way, stands out and says "pick me". I totally get that, but we had the best example of two different judging experiences on the same day at Crystal Palace. The following is just an observation, nothing aimed at the judging at all, just two different judges, two different opinions.....

In the breed, we entered Finlay into the Post Graduate class and he came 3rd out of 3 dogs entered. No problem with that, Finlay and Deb didn't seem to do anything 'wrong', Finlay was his usual effervescent self and wagged his way through the whole affair. But clearly, the type of Tibetan Spaniel that Finlay is didn't do it for that judge. Certainly he was the larger of the 3 dogs there, but not overtly so. Then Finlay & Deb went on to do a Stakes class, and what a result it was.

There were about 23 dogs in the AV Yearling Stakes class, all shapes and sizes from Afghan Hound, German Shepherd, Tibetan Terrier, Lhasa Apso, Pointers....you name it. The initial aim for Deb is to get shortlisted, so having done his thing, the judge pulled out about 10 dogs for his shortlist and we were in it, hooray. At that point, we would have been happy enough to be considered in the top 'half' of the draw. But we continued. The judge got the dogs to move again and then further shortlisted down to his final 5. There was a bit of confusion because the final five thought he was doing the placings but no, the judge pointed out he was just making up his final placings. Deb was stood at the front of the queue and he looked at the dogs again, and did re-order them slightly but at the end Deb and Finlay remained in 1st place. We were just so surprised and overjoyed. In just over a year of showing Finlay this is his best placing in a Stakes class, and such a large class at that. He even won himself £10 into the bargain.

But what a contrast, as I said two different judges and two different views of Finlay. Not entirely a fair comparison, because one class was all Tibbies, the other was AV, so not comparing eggs with eggs. There were some great looking dogs in that Stakes class too. 

For me, the moral of the story is enter the classes and have fun and gain the experience. Don't not enter because you think you won't win, because you just never know. I take photos and video of Finlay at shows, and Deb watches these back and often sees things she'd like to improve. For instance Finlay doesn't always walk with his head up, partly this is due to many good smells on the ground, but partly it is due to training. Deb doesn't like "stringing" Finlay up on his lead though.....but on some days he does walk with his head up. So there is always something to work on, just like any competition. 

Then as I said before there is the social side, you get to meet up with like-minded people and put the world to rights over a cup of tea! We met a fellow exhibitor on Saturday who, although we knew each other, we've never properly chatted....so it is nice to make new friends too. Finlay made friends too, Tia was apparently a very good looking Tibetan Spaniel!

Here is Deb and Finlay in their final AV Yearling Stakes line up:

AV Yearling Stakes - winners!

Finlay's new girlfriend Tia, isn't she gorgeous!

I'm posing mum!

Keeping warm under her blanket

Another couple of shots I took on Saturday, I've realised I do rather enjoy dog photography. These two little monkeys were very difficult to photograph because they wouldn't keep still. But did OK in the end I think:

Looking a bit regal here....

Butter wouldn't melt.....

10 March 2019

Where to begin! 

Everyone has heard of Crufts, surely?! Either you are not into dogs but you've heard of Crufts, or you are into dogs and dog showing and maybe dream about one day showing your dog at Crufts. This became a reality for us in April 2018 when we won our class at the WELKS Championship dog show and someone said "that's it, you've qualified Finlay for Crufts now", it really hadn't occurred to us until that point. We booked our hotel room almost straight away, there was no chance we were going to miss our first opportunity to show our dog at Crufts. 

Thousands of dogs and their owners head to Crufts each year, and realistically your chances of winning Best In Show are minuscule. You'll know from your results during the year whether you've got a chance of winning your class, and probably you already know the top winning dogs from the year are likely to be your competition if you get any further than winning your class, so unless you are one of those top winning dogs, then it is down to how it goes on the day. Then even if you do win Best of Breed, you're into the group and you've got another 20-30 dogs to beat....all of whom are going to be very special dogs. So we went along dizzy with excitement at just being there with Finlay, a chance for him to show off to the world and have a fun day. Finlay treated it just like any other show, a place to meet people and dogs and say hello. Even though Deb and Finlay have only been showing for a year, they found themselves in the spotlight, so to speak. Through Finlay we have met so many lovely people, and no matter what you think of dog showing, if you like dogs you are in a building with thousands of other dogs and dog loving people, it is a win-win really.

It is hard to imagine that only one year before we came to Crufts to take part on the Discover Dogs stand. As for the actual dog showing, I'm not sure how much Deb took in because she was quite nervous, but on the day they both did incredibly well.

Deb had decided to put Finlay into the Post Graduate class and there were 9 dogs present from an entry of 10. Right from the start a placing was going to be tough. Finlay did his usual performance and proved to be the happiest Tibetan Spaniel, wagging his way through the whole affair. Our judge Liz Scoates decided that Finlay was worthy of a third place in our class, which was amazing. To get a placing at Crufts at the first time of asking, an achievement we couldn't have imagined. It makes me wonder, I've said many times that we didn't intend to show Finlay, but fell into it and got hooked. How many other 'pet' Tibetan Spaniels are out there that could do well at shows? An entry for Crufts of 160-odd dogs is fantastic, but how many more would it be if we could persuade more people into the showing life which really isn't so bad after all. All of this took place on the last Sunday of Crufts, but Finlay was there on Friday as well, for a different competition.....

The Breeders Competition. I've seen this on the TV before in previous years, it never occurred to me that Deb and Finlay would ever be taking part. But Aileen asked Deb and Finlay during 2018 to be part of the Balgay team and she also asked them to take part in the final, amazing! 40 teams of 3 or 4 dogs reach the Crufts final and all (potentially) 160 dogs are in the ring at the same time. When I say ring, I mean the Best In Show main arena, it is quite a spectacle. The team along with Deb and Finlay made their way around the ring looking like they had done it 100 times before, Finlay wasn't in the least bit intimidated by the big ring (none of the dogs were). I know Aileen really wanted to get shortlisted like they did last year, and they did. But to then get Group 4 was just brilliant. It was a fantastic day, it was a long day, and it was a very special day. I really love my chosen breed, and every opportunity to get the Tibetan Spaniel noticed a little bit more is a good thing in my book.

The photo's begin with what you'd expect, the lovely rosettes!

Breeders Competition rosettes

Third at Crufts, can't be bad

I leave you with the 'effervescent' Finlay (thank you Maureen for coining this phrase), not actually taken at Crufts but taken at the South West Tibetan Spaniel Club show the week before Crufts. All the time Finlay is doing this at a dog show, we know all is well. He is always so eager to please.

The wagger

4 March 2019

Finlay is nearly 21 months old now.....

Crufts - there is a really big deal coming up for team Finlay, the biggest dog show we've ever been to, the biggest dog show in the world. Deb and I have been going to Crufts since the mid-1990's as spectators and last year we went with Finlay to the Discover Dogs stand. But this year Finlay will be in the ring, qualified for Crufts and his first time in the Crufts ring (and for Deb). We cannot wait. I think probably for many exhibitors of Tibetan Spaniels it is something fairly routine, something they've done many times before....can you remember your first time? 

This year it isn't like we're only doing Crufts once, we're going twice. We are in the Team Balgay Tibetan Spaniel Breeders competition. I know Deb is really proud to represent Finlay's breeder Aileen in this special event. We are going on Friday for the judging, and all 40 teams that qualified will get their moment in the main arena, how special is that. No pressure whatsoever.....

Day to day life - although at dog shows mostly people will just see the happiest Tibbie with the biggest wag, inevitably when you are with a dog 24/7 you get to see their whole character. Finlay is a young adolescent dog, and he is also pretty headstrong and likes to be in charge. Although most dogs he meets with he is instantly friends with, he is a bit stand-offish with larger dogs who stare at him and at the moment young puppies seem to need to be brought in line with a stiff talking to. He forgets that it wasn't that long ago he was the mad puppy in everyone's faces. He is very different at a Tibbie show though, much more tolerant.....I know other Tibbie owners have said this, but they really DO know their own kind.

Finlay also gets a bit freaked out by the silliest things, he doesn't like his walking harness despite being trained on it from a young puppy. He makes a right fuss about getting it put on and then once it is on he couldn't care less about it, the same with his dog raincoat. It is almost a fear reaction, but we're working on it. 

Also he is a noisy little devil. He does like to woof a lot in the garden, particularly at night. Sometimes it is woofing because another dog is woofing, but other times it just seems to be because he enjoys woofing. I don't think there is anything he is trying to warn us about. We haven't had any neighbours knocking at our door yet, so it can't be too bad.

Weave! I published a video a while back showing Finlay doing some weaving between Deb's legs, he can still do this and he has progressed to weaving as Deb walks forwards. If we could be bothered I'm convinced that he could learn a lot more. Our other 2 Tibbies were both very intelligent (one intelligent and up for the challenge, the other intelligent but far too lazy) but neither were as clever as Finlay.....we're yet to figure out if this is entirely a good thing!! He learns new things VERY quickly, sometimes even before we realise we've taught him something. We will do more with him, next on the list is the Good Citizen dog scheme I think.

Kennels. He has had a single night trials in some local-ish kennels and he did ok. The plan was he was going to be in a 'social kennel' because he is a generally social dog. However, he was a bit to 'social' and ended up trying to hump every dog he met. So the kennel decided that it was best if Finlay was in a kennel on his own. Oh well. So he is booked for a 2 night stay later this month and then maybe a full week so we can go away somewhere abroad on holiday. I'm sure he will be fine, he didn't seem at all distressed by his first night away. We'll see how it works out.

A few photo's as usual

How many Tibbie owners get this view, quite a few I'd wager. This is Finlay's relaxed position, sometimes referred to as a "sploot"

What a view.....

Something I know applies to many Tibetan Spaniels, a love of climbing. Why walk around a pile of logs when you can climb to the top of them. Finlay does get a lot of long walks and walks around lots of interesting places. One of the many things I love about him is his agility, he just bounces up obstacles and back down so easily. It will get him into trouble one day!

Gotta climb to the top

One of Finlay's favourite places in the garden is the 'rocking-bench'. It swings back and forth, and Finlay loves to lay there....it is so much better than the cold damp grass don't you know!

My chair now....

28 January 2019

Finlay is now 19 months old, he is a growing lad. Although mentally he really still is a puppy.

The showing
We have done two dog shows this year, he has been placed in both, nothing outstanding so far, but he is still maturing. Visually he is coming along, his coat is starting to look more adult, he is getting a nice shawl and starting to get ear-feathering. His movement is very nice and most often gets picked up in critiques from judges. Deb still has her hands full with him when getting him to present calmly. Quite a few other exhibitors have told us we have the ideal problem, a show dog that is over-exuberant and loves to show, rather than a plodder who really doesn't want to be shown. For Deb that can mean reining in the little devil as he is set to sprint across the ring, or wag furiously and kiss the judge. We wouldn't have him any other way though, maybe he will suddenly mature one day, or maybe he won't!

The close friends
Every Wednesday he meets with a Border Terrier called Dream, he has known her since he was a puppy. My wife walks Dream for the Cinnamon Trust. Dream can be a bit reactive with other dogs, but has always been fine with Finlay only giving him a reasonable telling off if he gets a bit personal (and who wouldn't!). Dream spent the day with us recently, and the two of them got on like a house on fire, it was lovely to see them together.

Even more than Dream though, he has his number 1 bestest pal Jinpa the Tibetan Spaniel. When these two boys meet there are fireworks. It sounds daft to say the word "love", but I truly think these two dogs are in love, they adore one another. So much so that we cannot now say "Jinpa" to Finlay casually because he immediately knows the word and its context, and starts searching for him. Now Jinpa is simply known as "he who must not be named". These boys were meant to be together I think, and they enjoy every second they spend with one another.

Day to day
Finlay is a morning dog. He loves it when we are up early, so he can get out and patrol his patch. Having a lie in does not suit Finlay. He loves the cold, harsh frosty mornings, biting winds, all taken in his stride. He is starting to be a bit more of a loving dog, he will join us on the sofa from time to time, but is equally happy in the hallway on his own. But he is spending more time with us now. 

He is a constant source of entertainment, always managing to raise a smile. When he wants attention, he brings you a toy and dumps it on your feet, then another toy.....until you get the message. He loves chasing balls unlike any of our previous Tibbies. 

As for meeting people and other dogs, Finlay insists on it. He has this knack of fixating on someone when he wants to say hello. From some distance he stares, then freezes staring at them until they look at him. Then the tail wags, the goofy look appears on his face.....and then the other person is hooked and reeled in. The amount of people we end up saying hello to is staggering.....if they also have a dog this is a bonus. Finlay isn't always 100% friends with every dog he meets, he seems to think young dogs need to be brought in line for some reason. Although this is not the case with young Tibbies, who like every other living being, must be loved and wagged at, and kissed.

He loves his limited time spent upstairs and on our bed. We have a stair gate to restrict his movements upstairs, so when he gets the all clear, he bounds around exploring what has happened since his last visit. He would without a doubt spend the night with us, but he has always been more than happy downstairs in his own space. So we are all happy!

Some photos as usual

Here Finlay is at the Chichester Open dog show, doing a proper show dog stand

At the same show, here is is trying to seduce a Chihuahua.....I mean really, what chance did he stand, a Chihuahua!!

Unusually for Finlay, he posed for this photo, he loves our bed and I think he was sending us a message

This is MY bed now

26 November 2018

Finlay is nearly 18 months old!

Tick-tock
Owning a Tibetan Spaniel, in fact probably any dog or any pet, means you own a canine clock. Somehow you train them in the rigours of time management and then they remorselessly hold you to that as time goes by.

Hooman - it is time you fed my breakfast
Hooman - it is time for my walk
Hooman - it is time for your lunch, at which point you will feed me a small piece
Hooman.......etc.

How does this all start, well it is a good point, you don't really notice. Then one day it happens, the dog has come to fetch you....."what do you want" is the polite question. The reply comes in many forms, quite often ‘The Stare™’. You've had that 'stare', I know you have. Initially you pretend you don't know what the stare means, but it always comes at a relevant time, the time for one of the above items. This stare is very hard to ignore but if you manage to ignore it, there will come a time for your Tibbie to ramp up from the stare. It might involve standing up at you, bringing you a toy, maybe even a little nagging noise of some sort, a whine or a woof.....but not the usual "there is someone at the door" woof, oh no, this is a very different woof entirely.

It is safe to say that Finlay has reached the advanced level of time management. He knows when he is 'due' to receive all his daily allotment of items, and he knows how to keep us on our toes and provide what he feels he needs. 

The nose
Of course canine noses are way better than a human nose, we know that. But our previous Tibbies haven't had such a good nose as Finlay. If you dare to leave something on the kitchen side that he thinks is either his, or should be his, then he finds it and stand or jumps up at the side. Currently he can't get onto the kitchen worktop, but he does give it a good go. Turning the nose to good use, to keep him occupied we hide treats in the living room and tell him to "find it", off he will go sniffing out the treats pretty much without fail. Of course this training does loop back on us too, I refer you to the first paragraph 'tick tock'. This nose would also lead him into mischief, so it is imperative we don't leave anything his nose would find, that he shouldn't have, that he CAN get to.

Obedience
Despite his waggy and puppy-like behaviour, Finlay is very quick on the uptake when it comes to training. As well as ringcraft and all that is required of him there, Finlay has been gradually learning the other staples of fun dog obedience, such as "paw". We want to go through Bronze Good Citizen dog with Finlay and we think that it should be fairly easy. Well, I say fairly easy......when Finlay is in the mood he is very obedient, but of course when distracted this is not necessarily the case. 

When out of walks he is becoming more reliable, as I have said before, 'more reliable' is not at all a guarantee of him coming when called, so we are still very careful about where we let him off. Of late, he has come away from other dogs when called and been good from a distance particularly to a whistle. It is great to be able to let him off-lead because he loves to run. At only 18 months old he is in peak physical condition to being able to run and he would walk for miles too.

The challenge
Finlay is an absolute joy to own, but his desire to get his own way is never far from the surface. The opportunity to get away with just that little bit more than you were prepared to allow is constant. He can be a little devil at times and will try your patience if it means he gets his own way. Make no mistake about it, the humans do have to assert their dominance on a frequent basis, but the ease with which Finlay shrugs this off is alarming. This is of course a Tibbie trait, they love to be in charge. 

Despite our protestations to the contrary, is any human really in charge of a Tibbie I wonder.......

Some recent pictures/videos

The boy likes to make himself comfortable, what self-respecting Tibbie doesn't!

Mum's chair, she's gone so I must keep it warm

Finlay met a puppy. He is so outgoing and exuberant normally you'd worry that he would overpower a puppy. But he totally changed, and was ever so gentle with this little one. I love this picture, not one I took myself though.

I posted this video on Facebook. You would have thought it was a setup but it really wasn't. Finlay has discovered toilet rolls in true 'Andrex puppy' style. What a devil.

29 October 2018

Finlay is 16 months old, not far from being 17 months old, how the time has flown.

The showing - two championship dog shows in two weeks. The TSA Champ show last week where he got 3rd in Junior and 3rd in Post Graduate and then Midland Counties Champ show this weekend where again he got 3rd in both Junior and Post Grad - very consistent.

Finlay got to see lots of his Scottish family on Sunday at the show and I think he enjoyed that. We are constantly told by everyone we meet what a lovely friendly boy he is, he is a cheeky little dog who charms everyone he meets. He's even befriended a dog behaviourist who adores him, so that must be saying something. The video below shows him trying to win over Liz Cartledge at Midland Counties on Sunday, which appeared to be working, but not enough to make her shortlist unfortunately.

The friends - I think Jinpa (another Tibetan Spaniel) is Finlay's absolute number one best friend. But it has to be said Finlay makes canine friends quite easily. He loves to play and is very good at doggy-language and seems to know when it is appropriate to go in for a play and when perhaps being more submissive and rolling over would be a better idea. This mostly works. He does seem to be a big hit with the ladies though, lots of kisses and smiles.....although his mind does inevitably turn to more serious pastimes, which of course we discourage. But boys will (try to) be boys. As for making human friends, well that isn't difficult for a wagger like Finlay.

The hotels - if a show is over a certain travelling distance or it is both distant and early judging we stay away in a hotel. Makes a nice weekend of it. The first couple of times Finlay took this in his stride, but the last couple of visits have not been so good. Last weekend he did a lot of woofing, as it was pointed out to me he is in fact doing exactly what he was bred to do, alert his owners of strange noises. Which in this case was people thumping down the hotel corridors and banging doors. But he did somewhat overdo the alerting and we didn't want to wake the entire hotel! Then this weekend, he was at it again. More woofing, but he was very unsettled, licking a lot and being restless. To be fair, the hotel was VERY noisy, people banging and shouting at 2am and 3am, so we would have had a disturbed night dog or no dog. More practice is required I think!

Training - although Tibbies aren't known for their unflinching obedience, Finlay is learning. He does a good 'heel' now, his waiting is almost faultless and he learns really quickly. This is of course mixed in with typical adorable Tibbie traits of ignoring his owners just when you think he has it sussed. We really want to get his bronze Good Citizen dog award, so are working towards that in due course. He went on a massive romp in a big field with his best friend Jinpa recently, and they were both in a the far distance, a loud whistle from me stopped him in his tracks and with a brief pause of "did you want something dad", he dutifully ran the 200 metres or so back to us. What a star, this is real progress. Not progress enough to just start letting him off the lead everywhere you understand!!

Upstairs - for quite a while after we got him Finlay was not allowed upstairs, mainly because we didn't want his young bones to be stressed too much crashing up and down the stairs. But no such worries now, although a stairgate is in place to stop him going up there when he pleases. He is occasionally allowed upstairs now though and boy does he love it. Here he is with that cheeky look on, you've seen this look before right?

The pictures/video - I really love this video. Obviously Finlay doesn't know he is being seen by a top judge like Liz Cartledge, so he takes it in his stride. Basically, if a judge looks like they are requesting a kiss, they are going to get one. If the judge gets within a certain distance, that 'kissing distance', they are going to get one. It is lovely to see a dog that loves being handled like this. I had an unusual video angle here, as I was above in the upstairs part of the Champ show.

Here is Finlay and Jinpa, who are the bestest of mates. They first met when Finlay was very young and I think they bonded from the start. They both bark furiously when they first sense the other is near and are sad to depart at the end of their walks. It really melts my heart seeing them both together having such obvious fun.

14 October 2018

We went to a dog show, we didn't win any classes, and that's ok.

Since January 2018, we have done 27 dog shows of all kinds - small open shows, larger open shows, breed shows and full on multi-day championship shows. We haven't won classes at all of them, which when you are only just starting out is exactly what you'd expect. Deb and Finlay have learned so much this year and every time we go to a show we learn a little bit more.

What I don't want to do is end up only posting on Facebook for those times we win a class, a fancy rosette or generally do well because that isn't realistic. There are those days when for whatever reason you don't do so well purely in terms of 'scores on the board'. But that doesn't mean it was a wasted day, or a total write-off, it just means today it wasn't our day. If a judge has (say) 4 dogs in front of them, they haven't got any massive faults, they are all within the breed standard on most things then it is going to come down to what that judge believes is the best Tibetan Spaniel in that particular class on that day. Depending on what the judge likes in a dog, that decision may not always fall the same way, we are all human beings - if you worried about it too much you wouldn't go to any dog shows.

You still get to meet up with loads of people that love dogs, be in a venue full of dogs, meet our favourite breed in the whole world, Tibetan Spaniels, have a yarn about the terrible weather (today at least) and drink some slightly dodgy tasting beverage from the on-site facilities. In that respect, totally not a waste of a day, great fun. And on top of that we even got to see a Tibetan Spaniel win 'Best In Show', how awesome is that!

Ok-ok, yes saying all that it doesn't mean we don't think our fido is the best ever, no matter what anyone says, we all love our dogs and they mean the world to us. But as I think I have said before, this is a competition and there will be winners and losers. You can celebrate losing, that's not a crime - I defy anyone who met Finlay today not to have smiled, people gave him their treats and in return he gave them sloppy wet kisses, what's not to like! Our appreciation for Finlay is pretty partisan, but I've smiled and ahhh'd at quite a few other dogs today.....and I wouldn't have done that if I concentrated on the fact that we "lost" in our classes.

Quite a few of you reading this blog have been showing dogs for years, so you'll already know all of this.....for everyone else, perhaps this helps you understand why we've done so many dog shows this year. Yes, we're a bit mad and we've joined a crowd of mad dog showing people!!

Just to clarify, here is what we got:
- Second in Tibetan Spaniel Junior (out of 2 entries)
- VHC (or 5th) in Tibetan Spaniel Post Graduate (out of 5 entries)
- Unplaced in a large class of 16 in Special Beginners Stakes
- Unplaced (although got through to the shortlist of 6) in a class of 11 in Junior Stakes

Finlay doing his thing, he didn't put a paw wrong today, at least not in a big way.